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Scofflaw

Anytime · Aperitivo/aperitif · Classic/vintage

4.0 165 ratings

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Rye whiskey 50% abv
1/2 oz Dry vermouth
1/2 oz Bianco/blanco vermouth
1/3 oz Lemon juice
1/6 oz Grenadine syrup
1 dash Creole bitters
2 drop Saline solution 4:1

How to make

Serve in a coupe glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

Method

  1. 3 SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  2. 4 FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

  1. 5 EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour profile

50.0% alc./vol. · 1.6 standard drinks · 156 calories

History

On the dry and tart side, crisp and refreshing without being overly citrusy. Bonded-strength rye whiskey is used, so increase the measure if using standard-strength rye. A 'rich' 2:1 grenadine syrup is also used. If using homemade 1:1 pomegranate syrup for grenadine, increase the measure to 7.5ml (¼oz). The quality of the pomegranate syrup/grenadine is crucial for the finished cocktail.

The term "Scofflaw" emerged on 15th January 1924, during the height of Prohibition, from a competition held by Delcevare King, a campaigning teetotaller. King offered a prize of $200 "for an epithet which would best express the idea of lawless drinker, menace scoffer, bad citizen, or what not, with the biting power of 'scab' or 'slacker'." The Chicago Tribune reported on the competition's launch and winners. Two contestants (Henry Irving Shaw of Shawsheen Village and Miss Kate L. Butler of Dorchester) proposed the word "Scofflaw", and the prize was divided between them. We also have the Chicago Tribune to thank for reporting the creation of the Scofflaw Cocktail at Maxim's bar in Paris, in a piece published on Monday, 21 January 1924. "Scofflaw" Cocktail Gives Yanks Relief at Maxim's" PARIS. Jan. 20. – [Tribune Radio.] – Maxim's bar has invented a "scofflaw" cocktail, three parts rye, two parts French vermouth, a dash of lemon juice, and a dash of grenadine. The cocktail is most popular with American prohibition dodgers. The Chicago Tribune provides the date and place of origin, along with the original recipe. It would also seem to show that Harry MacElhone was mistaken when he claimed the cocktail was invented at his Parisian Harry's New York Bar in his 1924 ABC of Mixing Cocktails. Scoff-law Cocktail. One dash of Orange Bitters, 1/3 Canadian Club, 1/3 French Vermouth, 1/6 Lemon Juice, 1/6 Grenadine. Chicago Tribune, January 27th, 1924: Hardly has Boston added to the Gaiety of Nations by adding to Webster's Dictionary the opprobrious term of "scoff-law" to indicate the chap who indicts the bootlegger, when Paris comes back with a "wet answer" – Jock, the genial Bartender of Harry's New York Bar, yesterday invented the Scoff-law Cocktail, and it has already become exceedingly popular among American prohibition dodgers. To authenticate his claim, MacElhone reproduces a quote from the "Chicago Tribune, January 27th, 1924" saying "Jock, the genial Bartender of Harry's New York Bar, yesterday invented the Scoff-law Cocktail." I have trawled through the Tribune, and while there are numerous mentions of "genial bartenders," I can't find this one. Either I've missed it, or MacElhone fabricated the quote. Either way, Maxim's Scofflaw was created prior to 21st January 1924, two days before Harry's Scofflaw.